Nether Street is "nether" because there once was an "Over Street".
Ballards Lane received its name from the local Ballard family around 1300 but before that it was Over Street (or sometimes Barrow Lane).
Over Street and Nether Street ran parallel and both streets were described in 1365 as the ’two old streets’.
In 1756 a raised way was built from the last house in Ballards Lane to the Great North Road at North End. Nether Street, so called in 1365 and ’le lower street’ in 1622, was an access road to houses and fields, linked at both ends to Ballards Lane. Coles or Boles Lane, mentioned in 1393 and 1476, may have been the southern link. About 1867 the northern section was named Mosshall Lane.
